Variable-speed power-transmitting device



A. H.- JESSEN. VARIABLF SPEED POWER TRANSMITTING DEVICE.

A-P PLICATION FILED SEPT. 25, 1919.

' Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

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VARIABLE SPEED POWER TRANSMITTING DEVICE.

- APPLICATION FILED SEPT.25I I919.

Patmted Apr. 13, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Even-tor. Jssen. wb'i'nesa 3288a rneg the piston axes.

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARNOLD HENERYJESSEN, OF ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO HYDRAULIC CLUTCH COMPANY, 0]? LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION.

VARIABLE-SPEED POWER-TRANSMITTING DEVICE.

Application filed September 25, 1919.

- State of California, have invented a new and useful Variable-Speed Power-Transmitting Device, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to variable speed power-transmitting devices and particularly to the type of devices shown and described in my former patent bearing Serial No.

- 1,105,792, and dated August 4, 1914, the

present invent-ion 'being an improvement upon that type of mechanism.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device of this kind with means for moving the pistons against the action of the liquids contained in the devige, Without a tendency to cramp or exert lateral pressures upon the pistons, all pressure in moving the said pistons being substantially in a direc-" tion of straight thrusts longitudinally of It is a further object of the invention to provide rocker arms for carrying the pistons of the device, whereby one end of each arm may be pivotally anchored, the free ends of the pistonmoving arms being thus given a fixed range of movement.

It is also an object of the invention to interpose between the inner rotor of the device and the liquid moving pistons intermediate pivoted members connected with. the said pistons and adapted to bear against. the camof the device, whereldy tangentially set pistons'may be reciprocated without the endency of lateral prying actions on the pistons and theconsequent friction.

, to provide a mechanism of the class referred to-with a valve which is adapted to control the movement of the liquid which moves in and out of the cylinders of the rotor, mechanism being employed for controlling the said valve, which is adapted to effect a metal to metal contact between the parts whereby the shell or casing of the apparatus will thus be not entirely dependent, upon the hydraulic agent used, in establishing the same speed in the driven member as that attained by the driving member.

-With these and other objects in view the invention comprises certain novel constructions, combinations and arrangements of Specification of Letters Patent.

' It is also a further object of the invention Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

Serial No. 328,048.

parts as will be-hereinafter more fully set forth and described.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this spec fication:

Figure 1 is a central longitudinal sectional view taken through a power-transmitting device forming the subject matter of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an edge elevation of a portion of the rotor within the casing of the device and showing one of the rocker members employed for moving the pistons in the rotor cylinders.

Fig. 3 is a detail transverse sectional view taken upon the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken upon the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a sectiona line'5-5 of Fig. 1.

The improvement embodyingthe features of thepresent invention is designed to obtain abetter and more free action in the l view taken upon the 'mo'vement of the pistons employed in devices v-ide(l.\vith a larger portion adapted to receive the inner rotorfi, while a reduced por-' tion of sald casing, pro ect1ng from one side thereof is adapted to receive the trains .of gearing employed in transmitting movement from one portion of the mechanism to the other. A plate or circular cover 8 is removably'secured to one side of the said .casing for permitting access to the interior thereof and facilitating the assembling of the mechanism within.- Thereduced portion of the casing carries a bearing 9 preferably of the ball type and carrying a shaft 10 which projects outside the casing and is provided with afiange. 11 adapted to be bolted or otherwise secured to the corresponding flange 12 upon the shaft 13 of an engine or other motor. A packing gland 14 surrounds the said shaft 10 outside the ball bearing 9. The inner end of the shaft 10 is reduced and fits into an inner bearing 15 also of the ball type, the said bearing being mounted in a recess formed in the adjacent face of the inner rotor or cylinder carrying member 7 The said rotor and shaft are thus movably held with respect to each other. Surrounding the bearing 9 and rigidly secured to the Wall of the shell or casing (S, is a gear 16, the teeth of which mesh with similar gears 17. The said gears 17 are carried by shafts 18, the inner ends of which are fastened to and carried by the rotor 7. The said gears 17 are preferably mounted upon ball bearings 19 carried by the said shafts 18 and secured upon the reduced end portions of said shafts. Upon a larger portion of said shafts 18 are ball bearings 20 upon which are mounted gears 21 of a larger diameter than the said gears 17 .The preferable ratio in the size of said gears is two to one, the gears 21 being twice the diameter of the gears 17. There are preferably two trains of gears 1'7 and 21, the shafts of which are arranged diametrically opposite to each other upon the rotor7, in order to properly balance the action of the mechanism. The

L I gears 21 upon both sides of the device are in the same plane and their teeth mesh with an actuating pinion 22 rigidly secured upon the inner end portion of the shaft 10.

The arrangement of the parts is such that when the shaft 10 is rotated, it will turn the actuating pinion 22 and drive the gears 21. The said gears 21 are rigidly connected with gears 17, usually by keys or splines 23 so that the said gears turn together. The gears 17 will thus be given motion by the driving of the gears 21 and movement may thus be imparted from thegears 17 to the gears 16 upon the casing 6. The said casing will thus be rotated about the shaft 10 and around the rotor 7. i

The structure of the rotor is somewhat different fromthat shown in my former patent and is preferably provided with a series of cylinders 21 set tangentially therein. instead of radially as in said former patent. There are preferably an even number of such cylinders, whereby one may be made to exactly balance another upon the opposite side of the rotor axis. In the drawing four 1 of such cylinders 21 have been shown. Moving in each cylinder is a piston 25 adapted to be connected by the us 111 pitman or connecting rod 26 with the free end of a rocker arm or member 27, one such rocker member being provided for each cylinder. .The end of the rocker arm opposite to the pitman 26 is in each case pivotally mounted between ears28 which project from the sides of an adjacent cylinder.

The pivoted end of the rocker arm is preferably provided with a single bearing portion 29 engaging a pin 30' carried bythe said ears 28. each rocker arm is usually bifurcated and spread centrally so as to receive a roller 31. The said roller 31 is journaled upon a pin or short shaft 32, the ends of which extend through bearings 33 formed centrally of the rocker arm. The ends of the bifurcated The intermediate portion of portions of each rocker arm are provided with bearings 31 which carry pivot pins 35 by which the rocker arm is connected with its pitman 26. The rollers 31 engage and run upon the inner face ofa-camming 36 secured within the larger portion of the casing (3. The rocker arms are then forced inwardly at intervals'upon the cam ring for moving the pistons in the cylinders when the rotor is not movin at the same speed as the shaft 10. In ord er to return the pistons to their outer positions the pivot pins 32 of the rocker arms, are extended upon one side of each arm so as to carry an antifriction roller 37. The rollers 37 engage the outer edge or face of a cam ring 38, which is secured to the inner surface of the casing disk 8. The said piston-s are thus positively moved in both directions by the engagement of the rollers 31 and 37 with their respective cams. The fluid employed and interposed between the driving and the drivenparts of the mechanism, fills the casing 6 and the cylinders of the rotor 7 and usually passes into and out of the cylinders through ports 39 which extend to the central portion of the rotor where an annular chamber 10 is provided. (lonnnunication is had between said chamber and the space within the casing 6 through inclined ports 11 formed in the central portion of the rotor.

When the said ports are open the fluid duced end of apower-transmission shaft 13.

The said shaft 13 fits within a'sleeve 11, the inner end of which is enlarged to form an annular valve 15 having ports 16 therein which may be brought into coincidence with the ports 39 which lead into the ends of the cylinders. The said valve 15 finds a bearing in the material of the rotor. babbitt or other bearing material as at (31 being preferably arranged between the parts. The babbitting is also perforated opposite the ports 39 so as not to interfere with the passage of the fluid. The sleeve 14. is mounted in ball bearings 17 at its inner end. the said ball bearings being carried by the plate 8. A packing gland at 18 is mounted within an annular recess formed in the inner end of said sleeve 11, whereby oil will be prevented from escaping from the casing around the shaft-13. The. helical. spring 19 keeps the packing in proper condition, forcing a ring 50 against said packing at all times. The inner ends of each ofthe pistons 25 is provided with a valve 51. which fits in a valve seat formed in the said'i-nner end of .the piston. spring 52 normally maintains the valve in seated positioin When the pistons move inwardly the valve will be seated and will force the fluid out through the port 39. When the piston moves outwardly again, the

fluid will unseat the valve and press past it,

ready to be propelled by the piston through the said port 39.

The casing 6 is filled with fluid, which constitutes the hydraulic agent which is interposed between the cylinders and the 'valve whereby the cam is enabled by its enbring the movement of the rotor to that of the casing 6, as the driven member or shaft of the device is brought up to the movement of the engine shaft. The said liquid therefore entirely fills the casing B, and the cylinders, as well as the ports establishing com- 1 munication between the cylinders and the said casing. When the ports 46 in the valve .45 are in coincidence with the openings mto the cylinders, the fluid can move freely in and out as the pistons reciprocate under the action of the turning cam. The liquid passing through the said ports will, however, be checked and prevented from moving by the closing of said ports and the 'motion of the two. members will be brought together.

The valve 45 is operable by means of mechanism for turning the sleeve 44. The said sleeve 44 has one or-more inclined slots 53, there being preferably two in number I arranged one opposite to the other as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings. The ends of said slots are preferably provided with short straight portions parallel with the axis of the sleeve so that there may be a slight movement of the sleeve turning means at each end of the slot after the valve has been moved as far as required. In order to turn the said sleeve 44 an outer sleeve 54 is provided having inwardly projecting studs 55 carrying anti-friction rollers 56. The said rollers project into the slots 53,'so that when the sleeve 54 is reciprocate'd, it will operate to turn the said sleeve 44 and thereby the valve 45. In order to make the to facilitate the shifting of the sleeve 54. a

collar 58 is mounted upon suitable ball bearings'upon the reduced end of the sleeve 54 and oppositely projectingv pins 59 carried by said collar are engaged by a forked .lever whereby the collar maybe moved longitudinally of the transmission shaft 43. The forked portions of the said lever are indicated at 60 in Fig. 1 of the drawing. The lever may be similar to any gear shifting lever commonly employed on motor vehiother party in charge of the vehicle.

cles, and may extend to any convenient point for operation by the chauffeur 01' When the sleeve 54 has been pushed inwardly to the inner limit of its movement, the movement of the transmission shaft with the inner rotor carried thereby, will have attained. the same speed as that of the casing 6, and the inner end of the said sleeve 54 is there fore provided with a toothed ratchet portion 61 adapted to engage a similar toothed ratchet portion 62 which,- projects in the form of'av hub like extension upon the central portion of the plate 8. The teeth of these ratchet portions will become interlocked when the sleeve 54 is pushed inwardly as far as possible, whereby the driving and driven parts of the mechanism will be connected by a positive metal to metal contact. 9

The mechanism is not only useful as a gear transmission device but is also capable of use as a brake and for this purpose any ordinary brake'band 63 may be supported upon the outer peripheral surface-of the reduced portion of said casing 6 as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. The brake band may be provided witlrthe usual brake lining 65 for offering the necessary fric- .tional engagement between the parts.

In the operation of the device, the shaft 10, after the motorvehicle has been started. will be rotated in unison with the engine shaft being'positively connected therewith. The-shaft will turn the gear 22 which in turn will operate the'intermeshing gears 21. These gears carrying the gears 17 will by reason of their engagement with the gear 16 tend to turn the casing 6. The casing will thus be carried about the shaft 10 and with the valve 45 set so that the ports entering the cylinders are open, the cam 36 carried by the casing 6 will move the rollers 31 exactly according to the shape of the inner surface of the cam, while the cam'38 will move them outwardly again by reason of its engagement with the rollers 37. The

"liquid within the casing and cylinders will V merely move freely back and forth through the ports. As soon as it is desired to connect the casing 6 with the parts to be driven, the lever 60 is shifted so as to turn the valve 45 and gradually close the ports entering the cylinders. The hydraulic material moved by the pistons will thus be gradually retarded and the friction of the cam 36 on the said rollers 31 will tend to cause the innerrotor 7 to turn with the casing 6. By the time the valve 45 has completely closed the cylinder ports, the hydraulic material will have been halted in its movement and will become an abutment between the pistons and the said valve so that the rollers 31 and the rocker arms 27 carrying them can no longer be pushed inwardly. In this contransmitted from dition thev inner rotor inust turn positively ment of the pistons in other cylinders, when the valve 45 is open. In the present device as illustrated four cylinders are employed and the low parts of the cam are opposite to each other while the high parts of the cam are also opposite. The rocker arms and the pistons thus directly oppose each other, giving a very smooth operation in the running of the mechanism. The use of the rocker arms 27 is of importance and makes it possible to prevent any side twisting upon the pistons in the cylinders. the pressure upon said pistons being always applied in substantially an endwise thrust extending l'ongitudinally'of the axis of the cylinders. I

The substantial anchoring of one end of eachrocker arm to the pivotal point upon the inner rotor prevents the said rocker arms from moving except in the desired way. The use of the rocker arms thus facilitates the tangential arrangement of the pistons as illustrated in the drawing.

When the device 'is to have the brake applied, the valve 45 is open to permit a free movement of the liquids again and upon tightening the brake band the casing 6 will be brought to a standstill. The tendency to rotate the train of gearing through the movement of the shaft 10, will begin to tend to drive the rotor in the opposite direction, thus at first retarding the movement of the transmission shaft and if the brake. is put on tight enough finally stopping it completely. If the casing 6 is held absolutely immovable, the engine would in that event drive the transmission shaft in a reverse direction for backing the vehicle. The one simple mechanism heretofore described is thus capable of being used to drivethe vehicle forwardly or rearwardly or to be employed more or less as a brake. It is evident that the mechanical details of construction may be somewhat altered without departing from the spirit of the invention.

hat I claim is:

1. In a transmission mechanism, in combination, a driven member, a driving member, tangentially positioned cylinders carried by said driven member, pistons in said cylinders, means for controlling the movement of the pistons,-a cam ring carried by saiddriving member, and a rocker arm. for each piston having one end connected thereto, and the other end pivotally connected'to said driven member. and cam ringengaging members carried by said rocker arms intermediate their ends.

2. In a transmission mechanism, a driving member and a driven member, tangen tially arranged cylinders connected with the driven member, pistons therein, a hydraulic agent, valves controlling the movement thereof, rocker arms having fixed pivotal mountings with respect to the cylinders and movably connected with said pistons, a cam interposed between the driving member and the driven member, gearing actuated by the driving member and controlling said cam and means carried by the rocker arms for engaging said cam whereby the pistons will be actuated.

A mechanism of the class described comprising a driving member, a driven member carrying a series of cylinders, pistons mounted in said cylinders and adapted to act upon a hydraulic agent, a valve controlling the movement of' said agent, a cam interposed between the driving member and the driven member, gearing actuated by the driving member for controlling the said cam, rocker arms pivoted at one of their ends to the cylinders and at their other ends connected with said pistons, a roller carried by each rocker arm and engaging the inner surface of the said cam, whereby the pistons will be driven inwardly upon portions of the cam and an auxiliary cam for withdrawing the said pistons.

4. A mechanism of the class described comprising an outer casing, a driving shaft, gearing interposedbetween said shaft and said casing for turning the latter, an inner rotor carrying part of said gearing and having a series of cylinders formed therein. the cylinders having ports communicating with the interior of said casing, a cam carried by said casing. the casing and cylinders being filled with a fluid, rocker arms pivoted upon the said cylinders and having rollers engaging the said cam, pitmen connecting the rocker arms with the said pistons whereby they will be moved in accordance with the surface of the cam and means for closing or partially closing the ports of the cylindersfor retarding the movement between the cam and the inner rotor or completely locking the two together in accordance with the motion which it is desired to impart to the driven member.

7 5. A variable-speed power-transmission device having a driven member and a driving member, a casing, a hydraulic agent in said casing, gearingcapable of imparting movement from the driving member to said casing, a series of cylinders forming an inner rotor and having ports communicating with the interior of said casing,.a valve for controlling said ports, rocker arms carried by I the rotor having anti-friction rollers therein, pistons in the cylinders and connected with said rocker arms, a cam in the said casing adapted to actuate the said rocker arms for causing the pistons to move the hydraulic agent through said ports, and means for operating the said valve to check or cut off said hydraulic agent to control the relative movement of the said casing and the rotor, a sleeve adapted to rotate the said valve, a lever for operating said sleeve, and means upon said sleeve adapted to engage thesaid casing when the rotor and casing are moved at the same speed, whereby a positive communication between the parts will be had.

6. A mechanism of the class described comprising a driving shaft, a casing movable thereon, a gear actuated by said shaft, a rotor movable within said casing, and having gear holding means projecting therefrom, reducing gears mounted on said holding means, some of said gears meshing with the shaft driven gear, a gear carried by said casing, and engaging the other gears, a cam held by said casing, the rotor being provided with cylinders set tangentially, pistons in said cylinders, levers interposed between said pistons and the cam for moving the pistons inwardly, means for withdrawing the pistons, said means embracing an auxiliary cam, and afbrake band adapted to engage the said casing for retarding'its movement and reversing the action of the gears, the structure being such that the on one of said members, pistons in said cylinders, means for'controlling the movement of said pistons, rocker arms connected with i said pistons and provided with cam engaging elements, a cam against which said elements bear, and a reducing gearing between said cam and driving member.

8. A driving member, a driven member, a plurality of-cylinders carried by one of said members, pistons in said cylinders, a fluid in said cylinders, a rocker arm for each of said cylinders connected at one end with its piston and at its other end connected with one of said members, a cam engaging member intermediate the ends of said rocker arm for moving the same, a cam against which the same bears, a reducing gearing between said cam and driving member, and movable fluid confining means for each of said cylinders, substantially as described.

Signed at Los Angeles, county of Los Angeles, and State of California, this 2nd day of Sgptember, 1919. T

ARNOLD HENERY J ESSEN. In presence of- J. E. S. FABER, F. A. J owns, 

